Universities Have Key Role in Improving Local Services Says University of Greenwich’s New Professor
Derek Gardiner, Visiting Professor in Health and Social Care at the University of Greenwich, will say in his inaugural lecture on Thursday 21 June that universities can help public services like the NHS to deliver “what local people need and want”.
He will argue that universities like Greenwich are uniquely placed both as providers of professional training, and as partners in research and evaluation, to help Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and local councils turn what patients and clients are saying into quality services.
Professor Gardiner says: “Good services come from the bottom up, from professionals working together in the community, not from a top down national programme or initiative.”
Professor Gardiner, who has wide central and local government experience, most recently as Head of Adult Social Care at Lewisham Council, is also the author of a key textbook on the education and training of social workers and health professionals. Drawing on his research and other European evidence he shows that better services are provided by professionals who can learn in a variety of ways so when they practise they can tailor services to meet individual needs.
His lecture makes it clear that quality local services are those which meet the needs of local people. Users of public services are not very interested in national league tables and star ratings. They just want good services, close to home, available when they need them, Professor Gardiner says.
The School of Health and Social Care at the University of Greenwich offers under-graduate, post-graduate and Continuing Professional Development courses in health, social work, nursing, midwifery, speech and language therapy, psychology, NHS management and other related areas. It also carries out a wide range of research and consultancy projects, often working with local health and social care providers to assess the effectiveness of services and local needs.
Professor Gardiner says: “We don’t need focus groups to tell us what people want, we only have to listen to our patients and our clients.” He adds that local councils and PCTs need help to pull together and make good use of use all the information they gather. “That is another area where the local university can help.”
Notes for editors:
· Derek Gardiner’s Inaugural Professorial Lecture, entitled “Improving the Public Services – getting the best health and social care”, will be held on Thursday 21 June, 5.30pm, in the David Fussey Lecture Theatre, David Fussey Building, University of Greenwich, Southwood Site, Avery Hill Road, Eltham, London SE9 2UG. Tea and coffee will be served from 5pm.
· Professor Gardiner has worked across Whitehall, in the Departments of Health, Trade & Industry and Environment. He also held senior posts in NHS Research and Development and has maintained independent academic and consultancy work throughout his working life. Recent consultancy work has included strategic advice to a number of local authorities and health economies around the modernisation agenda.
· For more information about the work of the School of Health and Social Care and its courses, visit: http://www.gre.ac.uk/schools/health
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